Chinese New Year: Marbled Red Bean Cake

To celebrate the Chinese New Year and ring in the year of the Goat, we’ve whipped up our version of a traditional red bean cake. Eating desserts on the Chinese New Year symbolizes a sweet, rich year to come. That’s a sentiment we can get behind. Red bean cake might sound very unappealing to some, but it’s surprisingly light and delicious and not terribly bean-y. For more good luck foods, check out this article from Chow. May you have a prosperous and happy New Year.

Sort and rinse Bob’s Red Mill Adzuki Beans. Combine in a small pot with water, cover and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium low and simmer until soft, about 60 minutes. When beans have softened, drain and reserve cooking liquid.

Step 2

Place cooked beans and brown sugar in a food processor and puree, adding water 1 tsp at a time as needed, until smooth. Set puree aside.

In a small bowl, combine Bob’s Red Mill Sweet White Rice Flour, baking soda and salt and set aside.

Step 5

In the bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or by hand, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 10 minutes. Add orange zest and eggs, one at a time, scraping down the bowl between additions.

Step 6

Add the dry ingredients, alternating with the milk and scraping down the bowl often, until a smooth batter is formed.

Step 7

Mix ½ cup of cake batter with the bean puree to lighten. Pour the remaining cake batter into the prepared cake pan and smooth top. Drop large dollops of the bean puree along the top of the cake batter. Run a butter knife though the bean puree, creating swirls in the cake batter.

Step 8

Bake until the edges begin to pull away from the sides of the pan and a tester inserted in the center comes out clean, about 45 – 50 minutes. Let cool completely before icing.

Icing

Whisk together the powdered sugar and orange juice until smooth. Drizzle and smooth the icing over the top of the cake. Let set before serving.

Coconut Sugar Coffee Cake

I don’t know what your post-Thanksgiving weekend looks like, but I can tell you that having this coffee cake on hand will be a lovely touch point in an otherwise crazy weekend. With families going every which way over the weekend—be it shopping, sledding, skiing, watching football, decorating for Christmas, or shoveling snow—having a slice of this heavenly cake with a cup of coffee will be motivation enough for everyone to sit still for just a moment. Bring along this cake when you’re visiting family and friends if you want to be sure to get a repeat invite or are making up for a failure to visit previously. A coffee cake can heal many wounds and build many bridges.

Gluten Free Angel Food Cake

In truth, I thought for a minute about sharing a recipe for a side dish that we all love around here during the holidays, but let’s be honest, this time of year calls for sweet treats. The holiday season is a time when people come together to share love, friendship, laughter and a whole bunch of good food. This time of year always focuses on rich heavier foods at gatherings. So, to balance that out, I love keeping our desserts lighter in texture and this particular recipe is a little lighter on the calories too (sshhh, nobody has to know that, but us).

Today, I’m sharing one of my and my family’s all time favorite recipes I developed for Angel Food Cake. I love this cake during the winter months for many reasons, but one main reason is because I love that it actually looks wintery when you add seven minute icing and coconut to the top. A little chocolate sauce and/or raspberry sauce are great additions to the top, too, for presentation and flavor. Actually, the topping options are endless. When I serve this cake for a party, I like to set up a little build your own topping bar so my guest can have fun with the flavor combinations (shaved chocolate, fruit sauces, nuts). This Angel Food Cake is light, fluffy, sweet and full of flavor. The addition of coconut flour doesn’t really give the cake a coconut flavor, however it does add a richness to the sweet taste of this tender airy cake. I hope you and your guests love this Angel Food Cake as much as we love it!

In your mixer, combine 1/2 cup sugar, water, egg whites, cream of tatar and salt. Mix until foamy and starting to form soft peaks. Slowly add the remaining sugar to the egg whites as it is still mixing on high speed. In a separate bowl, combine the flours and baking powder, mix to combine. When the egg whites have formed stiff peaks, fold the flours into the egg whites in small batches. Don’t deflate the egg whites. Pour into an angel food cake pan and bake for 50 minutes. It will be slightly browned, springy and a toothpick will come out clean! Allow to cool upside down. Once cool, carefully cut around the edges of the angel food cake pan to release the cake. Serve with your favorite toppings!

Extra Light and Fluffy Seven Minute Icing

(makes about 3 cups)

3 large Egg Whites or 9 TBSP

2/3 cup Sugar

1 dropper vanilla NuNatural Stevia

pinch of Salt

1/2 tsp Cream of Tarter

In a large stainless-steel bowl, combine the egg whites with the sugar, salt and cream of tartar. Set the bowl over a saucepan filled with about 2 inches of simmering water. Beat the egg whites at high speed until stiff and glossy, about 7 minutes. Remove the bowl from the heat, add the vanilla stevia and continue to beat at high speed until the frosting is cool to the touch, about 5 minutes longer. Use the frosting immediately.

Sarena Shasteen has been an avid health food and fitness enthusiast from an early age. She holds a degree in Culinary Arts from The Art Institute of Atlanta, a certification in Fitness Nutrition and is a certified Fitness Trainer from International Sport Science Association (ISSA). Becoming a Personal Trainer and Specialist in Fitness Nutrition has been a lifelong goal of hers. Sarena enjoys helping others reach their health goals by teaching them that health and fitness are not only achieved in the gym, but also through fun everyday activities. Now a food writer, recipe developer, personal chef, Personal Trainer and Specialist in Fitness Nutrition, she enjoys sharing with others that healthy living can be fun and delicious. Keep up with her at The Non Dairy Queen and on Facebook and Twitter.

What is it? Wednesday: Super-Fine Cake Flour

What is cake flour? Cake flour is a low protein white flour made from wheat. Its fine texture makes it ideal for delicate cake baking. Unlike many other brands, our Super-Fine Cake Flour is simply highly sifted, finely ground wheat flour. Some brands add cornstarch to dilute otherwise high protein wheat flour (we call this a cheap trick around here). Instead of finding a low protein wheat, other manufacturers use the same high protein wheat and cut it with cornstarch. Our cake flour has not been bleached, another common practice among flour purveyors. While bleaching can help create perfectly white cakes and aid in the baking of a cake, our test kitchen produced stellar (and oh-so-delicious) white cakes. At Bob’s Red Mill, we think baking with chemically treated flours cut with cornstarch is a little yucky. No, thank you.

How is it different from all purpose flour? Cake flour is finer and contains less protein than all purpose flour. All purpose flour is designed to be just that- all purpose. All purpose flour is designed to make fine cakes and chewy breads. Cake flour is made with cake baking specifically in mind. It creates a lighter crumb that is perfect for delicate treats, soft cookies and airy cakes.

Why does protein matter? Protein in wheat flour (aka gluten) gives baked goods structure and elasticity. For chewy breads and pizza crusts, you want to use a higher protein flour. Things like cakes and pie crusts need less elasticity, making cake flour an ideal choice.

Gluten is sticky and stretchy (think of a balloon). When leavening reacts and produces gasses in your baked good, gluten creates pockets that expand around these gasses, causing your baked good to rise. More gluten and high-power leavening (yeast) will make beautiful artisan breads with lovely air pockets. Less gluten and tamer leavening (baking soda, baking powder), make smaller bubbles and smaller air pockets. With a cake, you want tiny air pockets so that your cake melts in your mouth and doesn’t fall to bits.

Why would you use cake flour over all purpose flour? Because you can. When you want to make the most beautiful and delicious cake for a special occasion, why wouldn’t you want to use special ingredients? After all, a baked good is just another way of saying “I love you.” In all seriousness, though, cake flour produces a tender, more tightly packed crumb. It can be used for so much more than cakes, as well. It makes lovely cookies, delicate pie crusts and gorgeous pastries.

Is cake flour gluten free? Nope. It’s made from wheat. Even if it has less protein than other wheat flours, it’s still got plenty of gluten.

Is there a substitute for cake flour? Yes, while it’s not perfect, you can do what so many of us have done in a pinch- make your own. For every cup of all purpose flour, replace 1/8th of the flour with cornstarch. Blend together and sift, sift, sift. Joy the Baker has some good tips here.

Little Bird Cake

For the second year, we’ve teamed up with the Cornell Lab of Ornithology to bring bird lovers the ultimate birding photo contest. Each week we’re giving away prizes and sharing some of our favorite recipes, perfect for fueling a healthy, happy day of watching birds. Check back here each week for a great recipe, and don’t forget to vote on your favorites and enter your own photos in BirdSpotter!

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This is a beautiful Italian cake that, while slightly complicated, is phenomenal. Organic farro provides a chewy, nutty texture similar that pairs wonderfully with the creaminess of ricotta. Serve this with coffee for a delightful dessert.

Rinse farro briefly with cool water, drain, and then add to 3 cups boiling water. Reduce heat to low and then simmer until farro is soft, about 25 minutes. Drain and set aside.

Step 2

Add milk, sugar, lemon zest and cardamom to a pot (can be the same pot used earlier) and bring to a simmer. Add farro and cook, stirring occasionally, until farro mixture is thick and resembles pudding, about 35-45 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla and salt and remove cardamom pod (if used). Let cool.

Step 3

Add ricotta, egg yolks, raisins, liqueur and the zest from about 3/4’s of the orange to the cooled farro mixture. In a stand mixer, beat egg whites until stiff. Add half the egg whites to the farro, just mixing in to lighten the batter. Gently fold the remaining egg whites in, trying not to deflate them too much.

Step 4

Preheat oven to 350°F and prepare a baking dish by coating a 10-inch round cake pan with non-spray stick and covering the bottom with a circular piece of parchment paper.

Step 5

Add batter to prepared cake pan and spread the top out evenly. Bake in the center of the oven 45-50 minutes, until top of cake is golden brown and edges are just starting to pull away in spots. Let cool about 15 minutes in the pan.

Step 6

To remove: run a knife around the edges of the cake pan. Put a plate upside down on the top of the cake and flip over. Remove cake pan. Then, using the plate you want to serve from, put that on top of the upside down cake and flip again, so that the cake is right side up, on the serving plate.

Step 7

Use a fine mesh strainer to sprinkle powdered sugar over the top of the cake, along with the remaining zest from the orange. Serve slightly warm or at room temperature.

Gluten Free Strawberry Shortcake

Happy National Strawberry Shortcake Day! Now that is a holiday that we can get behind! Such a simple, light dessert- perfect for a hot day. Growing up, my mother would serve us strawberry shortcake for dinner on those really hot, sweltering nights. Is there sweeter music to a child’s ears?

This summer classic uses our Gluten Free Vanilla Cake Mix to make cupcakes for the shortcake base. These are an easy treat to enjoy this weekend (perhaps for Father’s Day?) that anyone, gluten free or otherwise, can enjoy.

Cupcakes: Preheat oven to 325°F. Line standard 12-cup pan with paper liners; coat with cooking spray. Preheat cake batter as directed. Fill each liner with scant ¼ cup batter (about 3 tablespoons) or to within 1/2-inch of top of liner.

Bake 20 to 22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean. Cool cupcakes in pan for 15 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

To Assemble: Cut each cupcake in half, horizontally, and place the bottom half on a serving plate. Spoon strawberries over each half, top with remaining half and spoon remaining strawberries and juice on top. Top with a dollop of whipped cream and serve immediately. Makes 12 shortcakes.

Italian Farro, Ricotta and Orange Cake

This is a beautiful, if slightly unusual, flourless cake using whole kernel farro. The farro adds a wonderful chewiness and the ricotta a creaminess that can’t be beat. Serve this to your foodie friends with a small scoop of vanilla gelato and a cup of espresso and prepare for the accolades.

Rinse farro briefly with cool water, drain, and then add to 3 cups boiling water. Reduce heat to low and then simmer until farro is soft, about 25 minutes. Drain and set aside.

Add milk, sugar, lemon zest and cardamom to a pot (can be the same pot used earlier) and bring to a simmer. Add farro and cook, stirring occasionally, until farro mixture is thick and resembles pudding, about 35-45 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla and salt and remove cardamom pod (if used). Let cool.

Add ricotta, egg yolks, raisins, liqueur and the zest from about 3/4’s of the orange to the cooled farro mixture. In a stand mixer, beat egg whites until stiff. Add half the egg whites to the farro, just mixing in to lighten the batter. Gently fold the remaining egg whites in, trying not to deflate them too much.

Preheat oven to 350°F and prepare a baking dish by coating a 10-inch round cake pan with non-spray stick and covering the bottom with a circular piece of parchment paper.

Add batter to prepared cake pan and spread the top out evenly. Bake in the center of the oven 45-50 minutes, until top of cake is golden brown and edges are just starting to pull away in spots. Let cool about 15 minutes in the pan.

To remove: run a knife around the edges of the cake pan. Put a plate upside down on the top of the cake and flip over. Remove cake pan. Then, using the plate you want to serve from, put that on top of the upside down cake and flip again, so that the cake is right side up, on the serving plate.

Use a fine mesh strainer to sprinkle powdered sugar over the top of the cake, along with the remaining zest from the orange. Serve slightly warm or at room temperature.

Muesli Mayhem {Giveaway}

To get everyone revved up about our new Gluten Free Muesli, we asked some of our favorite bloggers to take a bag of it and create something fun and delicious. They really outdid themselves. These recipes are beautiful and we hope they inspire you to try something new when enjoying our muesli. They all did such a nice job, that we’re having trouble picking our favorite.

Help us choose a winner by voting for your favorite creation. Tell us in the comments which of these recipes should win the grand prize and you’ll be entered to win a prize pack that contains two packages of our Gluten Free Muesli and two Bob’s Red Mill products of your choice (excluding bulk sizes). Many of these bloggers are giving away muesli, too. We’ve indicated which ones are up and running so you can head over and enter to win even more muesli. If that isn’t enough, you can join the fun by taking a picture of yourself with a package of our gluten free muesli and enter our Pinterest and Instagram contests. Read more about that contest here. There are so many ways to win and it’s so easy to enter! Vote for as many recipes as you like, but each person will only be entered to win once. Voting is open until May 2nd at 11:59 pm.

Here they are in no particular order…

Note: To get the recipe, simply click on the link to their blog in the caption, this will take you right to the recipe.

Easter Brunch Inspiration

Who doesn’t love a good brunch? Easter and Mother’s Day are classic brunch holidays, but you could really put together a brunch any time and people would enjoy it. Easter seems like a wonderful reason to break out of the mold and try something new. We’ve pulled together some of our favorite brunch recipes to inspire you. These are all delicious, fairly easy to prepare and make use of whole grains. Cheers!

Hazelnut Loaf Cake from Spoonfuls of Germany

This delicious and different cake comes from Nadia Hassani, author of Spoonfuls of Germany. Nadia writes about traditional German cuisine on her blog and wrote a cookbook by the same name. In Germany, wheat farina is used for many different recipes and is not solely regarded as a breakfast cereal, as it is in the United States. She wanted to share this recipe with you, which has been adapted to use our whole grain brown rice farina. Nadia emigrated to the United States in 1998 and found there was a lot left to be explored in German cuisine here. She took up the challenge of writing Spoonfuls of Germany to bring more awareness to the diversity of German food and get a taste of the German culture. The revised and expanded edition of Spoonfuls of Germany will be available this Spring, see her website for details.

Heat the milk in a small saucepan. Add the farina and stir well. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease the sides and the bottom of a 8½ x 4½ x 2½ loaf pan very well. Sprinkle the bottom with farina. Turn the pan upside down over the kitchen sink and knock off any excess farina.

Mix the hazelnut flour, baking powder, cocoa, salt and sugar in a bowl. Add the egg and the vanilla to the cooled farina mix and stir well.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and fold just until evenly moistened. The dough will be quite thick. Pour it into the prepared pan and gently shake the pan to distribute the dough evenly.

Bake on the middle rack of the preheated oven for 65 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Gently loosen the sides with a knife and unmold the cake onto a wire rack. Turn it over at once and let cool completely before cutting.